Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on February 02, 2005 at 07:22:47 from 62.253.32.5 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Re: Cruising the Thames posted by John Nichols on February 02, 2005 at 23:11:44:
There is a good article on Google - "Dragonwing - the London Bridge"
In short old London Bridge - by no means the first on the site - was built in stone in 1176. It had 20 arches, many of which supported water wheels and this so obstructed the river that there could be 6 feet difference in level of the water on each side. Passage in boats was dangerous and people normally hired a different boat on each side. (I don't recall Pepys mentioning this but perhaps this was because it was as normal and unremarkable as changing to a different line on the Tube)
For most of its life the bridge was lined with houses. It was finally replaced in 1831 and demolished during the next few months.
Clearing this obstruction dramatically changed the tidal flows in the river.